U.S. Naval High Frequency Direction Finding Sites during World War I and World War II. Part 2 Updated: 01 Jun 08 ======================================================================================== Station Opened Closed/Disestablished ======================================================================================== Manistique, Upper Peninsula, Michigan Manistique is a city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 3,583. It is the county seat of Schoolcraft County, and the only incorporated location in the county. The city is located on the north shore of Lake Michigan, at the southwest corner of Manistique Township, 88 miles from the Mackinac Bridge. Manistique is 45 miles south of Munising, and located at the edge of the Hiawatha National Forest. The Manistique River received its name from the French, and was reportedly a corruption of the Ojibwa word for "river of the big bay," in reference to the significant river and its tributaries, which spread throughout a vast portion of Michigan's upper peninsula. The city if Manistique was established in 1890, and was originally a lumber transfer town. The timber was cut further north and sent down the Manistique River to Lake Michigan. The timber was sorted at Manistique and sent by boat to different towns for processing and use. Manistique was also an important commercial fishing port. The shortest distance between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior is located near Manistique, where a trail was used by Lifesaving Station keepers to drag their lifeboats from one lake to another, in times of emergency. Realizing the vast profit potential to be made in satiating Chicago's need for lumber after the great fire, and the natural delivery system represented by the Manistique watershed, Abijah Weston and his associates arrived in Manistique in 1872, ready to reap the bounty of the areas seemingly limitless forest. Within a year, the river mouth served as the receiving point for millions of logs floated down the river from remote wilderness camps, and the twin sawmills of the Chicago Lumbering Company and the Weston Lumber Company were working overtime to serve the endless parade of lumber hookers and schooners tied-up at the lumber-stacked wharves, waiting to carry their cargoes to the bustling cities growing at the foot of the lake. In order to protect the mouth of the river from silting, the lumber interests erected a pair of short timber crib piers at the river mouth in the late 1870's and maintained lens lanterns suspended from poles at their outer ends to assist captains making their way into the harbor. Seeing the potential for a rail line connecting Manistique to lake Superior, Weston formed the Manistique and Northwestern Railway Company in 1891, with the lines northern terminus at Negaunee. With an expected increase in maritime traffic entering the river, the Ninth Lighthouse District Engineer requested an appropriation of $32,000 for the establishment of a coast light and fog signal at the harbor entrance in his annual report for 1892. In an act of February 15, 1893, Congress approved the project, but no appropriation was forthcoming, and without funding, the project was stalled. Although the Lighthouse Board reiterated the request for the following three years, the matter was dropped by the Board in its annual reports after 1895. By the turn of the century the population of Manistique had grown to 3,500, with the mills employing 1,200 men, and producing 80,000,000 board feet of white pine a year. Additionally, prosperous new businesses had joined the lumber interests along the lower five miles of the river, including the Manistique Iron Company, which was shipping 100 tons of pig iron a day. After establishing the Traverse City, Leelanau & Manistique Railroad in 1901, which ran between Northport to Traverse City, Weston launched the 338-foot car ferry Manistique Marquette and Northern No. 1 in December 1902, and began daily railcar and mail service between Manistique and Northport. These were boom times for Manistique, and while the federal government had undertaken a string of significant harbor improvements throughout Lake Michigan since the 1850's, the entry to the Manistique had somehow been overlooked. Forced to provide for themselves, Manistique business interests had extended the timber crib piers to 1,600 feet in length, and barely managed to maintain a depth of 11 feet in the 350-foot opening between the piers. Applying all possible political pressure, the city fathers of Manistique finally managed to convince the Federal government of both the financial importance the businesses on the river represented, and the need to ensure safe entry to the increasingly larger vessels now plying the lakes. An Army Corps of Engineers harbor expert was dispatched to Manistique in early 1910, and plans were drawn up for a pair of concrete arrowhead breakwaters on each side of the existing piers to create a large stilling basin to both protect the river entry and to create a harbor of refuge, in which passing vessels could lay-up during foul weather periods. The contract for the construction of the breakwaters was awarded to the Greiling Brothers Company out of Sturgeon Bay, who had established a solid reputation for harbor work in a number of ports around Lake Michigan. With construction well underway in 1910, George Putnam, the newly appointed Commissioner of lighthouses, made the following observations in his annual report to Congress: "car ferries between Frankfort and Manistique run the year round; during the winter months this run, taking into consideration the nature of the cargo carried and the dangers from ice is extremely hazardous; it is therefore believed that every facility should be afforded for safe navigation into this port, It is proposed to establish range lights with fog signal and quarters for keepers." To this end, the report included a request for $20,000 for the erection of the recommended navigation aids, as follows: For two towers and fog-signal buildings $7,000, illuminating apparatus $2,500, for fog signal apparatus $1,500, $7,500 for a duplex dwelling and $1,500 to cover contingencies. As work on the breakwaters progressed through 1912, the Lighthouse Service erected temporary range lights on the east pier. Both lights were incandescent electric type, and powered by the city electrical utility. The front range consisted of simple pole with a 170 candlepower fixed white lens lantern suspended 25 feet above lake level, and visible for a distance of 11 miles. The rear range, of similar construction stood 50 feet above the water, and emitted 45 candlepower, and created a visible range of 7 miles. Congress responded with the requested $20,000 for permanent aids on October 22, 1913. Contracts were awarded for supplying the necessary structural and mechanical components for the new west breakwater that winter, and negotiations were undertaken for the purchase of a site for the dwelling close to the foot of the new East Breakwater. With the Greilling Brothers completion of the west breakwater in the summer of 1914, lighthouse crews began simultaneous construction of permanent lights on both the West Breakwater and West pierhead. The West Breakwater structure took the form of a white skeleton steel tower erected on a concrete pedestal atop the surface of the concrete breakwater. Designed to operate as an unmanned aid, the acetylene powered lens lantern was equipped with a sun valve and flasher. The 120-candlepower white light was visible for a distance of 10 miles. To guide vessels round the West Pierhead, a simple white post lantern was erected on outer end of the old timber pier. Standing 26 feet above lake level, the 60-candlepower acetylene light was visible 8 miles, and received its acetylene from tanks stored in a small wooden building located beside the pole. Construction of the planned lighting of the west side of the harbor entrance was thus complete, and the two new lights were exhibited for the first time on the evening of October 30, 1914. The Greilling Brothers completed work on the new East Breakwater late in 1915, and a lighthouse crew arrived to pour a large concrete slab 36 feet from the outer end of the structure to serve as a foundation for the planned combination light tower and fog signal building. The following year, while one crew worked on building the station's duplex dwelling, another crew worked on erecting the lighthouse tower at the end of the East Breakwater. Shipped to the site in disassembled form, the tower was made of prefabricated steel plates, which were bolted together and lagged to the foundation. Square in plan, the tower stood approximately 38 feet tall, and was surmounted by a square gallery, capped with a decagonal cast iron lantern, housed an electrically powered fixed red fourth order Fresnel lens. The 340-candlepower incandescent electric bulb within the lens would be visible for a distance of 13 miles. Within the body of the structure, duplicate electrically powered compressors fed a pair of diaphone fog signals. Work on the new station was completed in August, 1916, and the Manistique East Breakwater Light, located at the east end of the harbor, where the Manistique River flows into Lake Michigan; was first lit on the evening of August 17, 1916. Over the ensuing fifty years, Manistique's prominence as a lumbering port waned. With cessation of Manistique and Lake Superior railroad operations, and the departure of the last Ann Arbor car ferry from the harbor on July 18, 1968, the harbors importance plummeted. With the advances in Loran and Radar, manned lighthouses were no longer a necessity to navigation. The Manistique lighthouse was automated in 1969, the keepers departed, and the keeper's dwelling was sold into private ownership. As part of automation, the fourth order Fresnel lens was removed, replaced by an acrylic automatic optic beam. The lens was placed in storage, eventually restored and loaned to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc. The Manistique East Breakwater Light remains an active aid to navigation, maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. Navy Direction Finding Station, Manistique, MI at U.S. Naval Radio Station, Manistique, MI =================================================================================== Manasquan, New Jersey Manasquan Inlet, Point Pleasant, New Jersey Mansaquan Beach, Point Pleasant, New Jersey Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey Manasquan is a Borough in Monmouth County, NJ. As of the U.S. 2000 Census, the borough population was 6,310. Manasquan was formed as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on December 30, 1887, from portions of Wall Township, based on the results of a referendum held the previous day. Manasquan was first settled as a part of Shrewsbury in the late 1600's. It takes its name, Man-A-Squaw-Han (stream of the Island of Squaws) from the Lenni Lenape Indians, who were summer visitors here for hundreds of years. The Unamis branch of the Lenni Lenape Indians lived along the river known as Manasquan and upon the island situated in the middle of the river, adjacent to the Point Pleasant Canal entrance; later called Osborne Island. Today, the island is officially named Nienstedt Island, honoring the family who donated it to the borough. The Lenni Lenape claimed the exclusive right to fish in and hunt along the tributaries of the river. Manasquan, Maniquan, Mannisquan, Manasquam, Squan, and Squan Village are mentioned in various early records, among them a deed dated 1685. The meaning has also been interpreted as "an island with enclosure for squans." The Manasquan River is a major waterway in central New Jersey. It flows from central Monmouth County, beginning in Howell Township, to the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties between the communities of Manasquan and Point Pleasant via the Manasquan Inlet. It widens greatly as it nears the ocean, making it ideal for boating, and is a very popular recreational area of the Jersey Shore. The Manasquan River and Inlet is the northernmost terminus of the Intracoastal Waterway. It also marks the traditional boundary between North Jersey and South Jersey, and it separates Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Point Pleasant is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey. As of the U.S. 2000 Census, the borough population was 19,306. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 population estimate for Point Pleasant was 19,882. Point Pleasant was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 21, 1920, from portions of Brick Township, based on the results of a referendum held on May 19, 1920. The borough was reincorporated on March 12, 1928. Point Pleasant Beach is a Jersey Shore community situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that divides the Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean; spanning the eastern New Jersey Atlantic coastline from the Manasquan Inlet at the north to the border with Bay Head in the south. The U.S. Lifesaving Service was established in February, 1871. The U.S. Lifesaving Station at Mansaquan Beach, more recently known as Manasquan, was located at Point Pleasant, New Jersey. In 1846, an investigation into a shipwreck at Mantoloking indicated the need for organized lifesaving efforts in the area. By 1849, The Federal Government had established eight lifesaving stations in the area. The Mansaquan Station is believed to have been built in 1856, on property conveyed in 1849, located one mile southeast of Squan village. In the 1902 Annual Report is that statement that "under a contract entered into during the year, the old station which has become unsuitable for occupancy at Squan Beach is being replaced by a new structure." On January 28, 1915, the U.S. Lifesaving Service and its functions were consolidated with the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service to form the U.S. Coast Guard. The Manasquan Inlet shoaled over and closed soon after the Point Pleasant Canal opened in 1925, as the river began to flow through the canal and into Barnegat Bay instead of through the inlet to the Atlantic Ocean. Several hundred yards of sand built up behind the beach, closing the inlet to maritime traffic. The closing devastated the fishing and yachting communities along the Manasquan River. Recognizing the importance of access to the ocean, officials in Manasquan, Brielle, Point Pleasant and Point Pleasant Beach joined together and pressured federal officials to reopen the inlet. In 1930, the Army Corps of Engineers began the year- long project to reopen the inlet. Workers built two temporary piers, and began building jetties and a temporary wooden bridge across the sands to truck in boulders and equipment to dredge the inlet. The communities of Manasquan, Brielle, Point Pleasant, Point Pleasant Beach, as well as Monmouth and Ocean counties, each contributed $25,000 toward the project. The remainder of the $600,000 price tag, equal to nearly $8 million today, was paid for with matching funds contributions from the state and federal governments. Work was completed in February 1931. The Manasquan Inlet is a major thoroughfare for commercial and recreational boats and the start of the Intracoastal Waterway. The U.S. Coast Guard was stationed in Manasquan prior to the Manasquan Inlet shoaling over. The Coast Guard has been stationed in Point Pleasant Beach since 1936. In 1936, the Coast Guard built a new Lifesaving station on the south side of Manasquan Inlet in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. Because of it’s ocean access and protected mooring facilities, the new Manasquan Coast Guard Station replaced the earlier Mansaquan Lifesaving Station, as well as four other Lifesaving Stations: the Bay Head Station, built in c1856, originally known as Point Pleasant Station from c1856 to June 1, 1883 and abandoned in 1946; the Mantoloking Station, built in 1872, originally known as the Swan Point Station from 1872 to June 1, 1883 and turned over to the GSA in 1953; the Chadwick Beach Station, built in 1849 and abandoned in 1939; and the Toms River Station, built in 1872 and turned over to the GSA in 1964. The only one of those early five stations that remains in service is at Manasquan, where the old station now serves as an Electronics Shop for Coast Guard Group Sandy Hook. In 1938, the Work Relief and Public Works Appropriation Act provided funds for a combination boathouse and garage, workshop, and launch way. In approximately 1939, a boathouse was added in Point Pleasant Beach, and in 1976, an enlisted quarters. On the exterior, Station Manasquan Inlet has retained it’s 1936 appearance, but once inside one will find that it’s equipment has kept up with technological advances important to it’s primary missions of search and rescue and law enforcement. Additionally, remodeling projects have kept the living areas modern and comfortable for it’s inhabitants. Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet is manned by a crew of 30 men and women, and they respond to about 600 search and rescue cases a year. The station’s missions are search and rescue, enforcement of laws and treaties, and enforcing recreational boating safety. The station’s area of responsibility is from Spring Lake N.J. to Seaside Heights up to 48 miles offshore, and from the Manasquan River entrance to Toms River N.J. and all of Barnegat Bay in that area. The Manasquan Inlet also is the Northern terminus of the Intracoastal Waterway, which means that on any summer weekend as many as 1600 boats may pass through it. In addition, The Inlet is home to a fleet of commercial fishing and charter boats that bills itself as the "Fishing Capital of the World." Navy Direction Finding Station, Mansaquan, NJ at U.S. Naval Radio Station, Mansaquan, NJ =================================================================================== Manus Island, Lorengau, Admiralty Islands, Bismark Archipeligo, Papua New Guinea The Admiralty Islands (or Admiralties) are a group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago in the west Pacific Ocean, north of New Guinea. Part of Papua New Guinea, the island group is situated two degrees south of the Equator, about two hundred miles north of the New Guinea coast and more than 2,000 miles from Sydney, Australia. The group is also commonly called the Manus Islands, named after the largest island. Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the 5th largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 810 square miles, being some fifty miles long and four wide. It is covered in rugged jungles, which can be broadly described as lowland tropical rain forest. Manus Island has a population of approximately 33,000. The chief town and capital of Manus Province, Lorengau, is located at the east extremity of Manus Island, on the edge of Seeadler harbor. In 2000, the population of Lorengau was 5,829. Momote Airport, the terminal for Manus, is located on nearby Los Negros Island. A bridge connects Los Negros to Manus and the main town of Lorengau. Lorengau is the only port and supplies fuel, basic store goods, telecommunication and banking service to the province population. Transport to most villages and the outer islands is by boat. Inland villagers have to walk to the coast to travel by boat. The larger islands in the group include Manus Island, Los Negros Island, Tong Island, Pak Island, Rambutyo Island, Lou Island, St. Andrews Islands, Baluan Island, Haewei Island, Ahus Island, Hermit Island and Ndrova Island. The Islands of Ponam and Pityilu are 22 miles apart, lying close off the northern coast of Manus Island. Many of the islands are atolls and are uninhabited. Coconut growing and pearl fishing are the leading industries. Along with New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands, the Admiralty Islands were first inhabited approximately 40,000 years ago, in the initial wave of migration out of South-East Asia that also populated Australia. This early society appears to have cultivated taro, and to have deliberately introduced wild animals from New Guinea such as bandicoots and large rats. Obsidian was gathered and traded throughout the Admiralty Islands archipelago. The first European to visit the islands was the Dutch navigator Willem Schouten in 1616. The name Admiralty Islands was devised by Captain Philip Carteret, Royal Navy, in 1767. The Admiralties were annexed by Germany in 1886, and until 1914, the area was administered as a German colony. During World War I, in November 1914, the islands were occupied by troops of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force. A few shots fired from a machine gun over the heads of the tiny German garrison at Lorengau were the last shots fired in the battle. In 1920, following the defeat of Germany in World War I, the islands were governed by Australia, under a League of Nations mandate, until 1942. In 1939, the native population totalled approximately 13,000. The islands were also home to forty-four white men, mostly cocoa plantation managers. From August, 1941, an Austalian Reconnoiter Unit garrisoned Manus island, near Lorengau. The village consisted of fifteen houses and three shops. The residents had no cars, so there were no laid roads, only dirt tracks. A small airfield serviced the island and there was a radio station with a tall steel mast. The first Japanese air raid was on January 25, 1942, and everything in sight was bombed and straffed. Japanese troops landed on the islands on April 7, 1942. On Manus Island, The Aussie Patrol unit evacuated the Observation Post, smartly withdrew to prepared positions in the tropical jungle, and waited for a promised evacuation. It never came. To escape, they journeyed across the wilderness of New Guinea, passing over the Finnisterre mountain range, the Bismarck mountain range, and finally arrived at the Mt. Hagen camp on May 16, 1942. The Japanese established a small military base near the village of Rossum on Manus Island. They built airstrips at Lorengau on Manus, and at Momote on the neighbouring island of Los Negros. They made little strategic use of the airstrips, and had no serious plans, nor did they install any military defensive positions. The Allies wanted to capture the Admiralty Islands with the aim of acquiring a suitable deep-water anchorage for the large fleet being built up for the coming actions in the Pacific which would lead to the invasion of, Japan. Seeadler Harbor on Manus Island suited this purpose; it was fifteen miles long and four miles wide, with a depth of water ranging from twelve to fifteen fathoms. An anchorage such as this could shelter the large task forces that were proposed, and there was ample level ground for airstrips to be built on Manus, Los Negros, Pityilu and Ponam. In 1944, Japanese forces occupying the islands were attacked and defeated by U.S. and Allied forces in Operation Brewer of the Admiralty Islands campaign of February- March 1944. Japanese resistance ended on March 18, 1944. The Americans wasted no time in establishing installations on Manus. An Allied Naval base was established on Manus Island, near the village of Lombrumto, to support the Allied and U.S. Pacific Fleets. The Japanese airstrip at Momote, on Los Negros Island, was expanded and was made capable of handling heavy bombers. The U.S. Naval Operating Base, Manus Island and the U.S. Naval Air Station, Pityilu Island, were established on May 10, 1944. The U.S. Naval Auxillary Airfield at Ponam Island was established in August, 1944. The Naval Operating Base on the Admiralty Islands was a huge operation, which saw over a million servicemen either stationed there or passing through it. The base served as a re-supply depot as well as the staging area for the American invasion of the Philippines. The British element at Manus was to take the form of a small liaison team, a Captain, titled "Senior British Naval Officer (Manus)" with a staff of thirty. This team was to grow during the next year as plans progressed for the formation of a British contingent to join the fleet for operations against Japan. Prior to the arrival of RAF units, a British Naval Air Liaison Office was set up at Momote airfield on Los Negros Island. Runways, lay-bys, and huts for stores and mail were temporarily allocated for use by the Royal Navy. The first Royal Navy elements arrived on Ponam Island at the beginning of March, 1944. The main party arrived at Ponam on the March 25, onboard the S.S. Empire Arquebus. Pityilu Island is a small island on the outer reef of Seeadler harbor, about 5 miles north of Manus. Pityilu was site for an U.S. Navy airstrip, and an R&R facility designed to accommodate up to 10,000 servicemen a day. Construction was carried out by the 140th Naval Construction Battalion, which arrived at Manus during June, 1944, the airfield facility comprised of a single runway, made of crushed coral, and living areas for squadron personnel and about 5,000 other servicemen. Ponam Island lies some nineteen miles north-northwest of Manus. The Americans resettled the native population onto other islands and built an 'overflow' airstrip on Ponam Island to serve the U.S. Naval Air Station on Pityilu Island. The U.S. Navy’s 78th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) Seabees built the facility in 10 weeks, during the summer of 1944. The 78th were replaced by 'A' company of the 140th Construction Battalion, which completed work on Ponam from August, 1944 and undertook station maintenance duties until April 14, 1945, before rejoining the main body located on Manus. The U.S. Naval Supplementary Radio Station, Manus Island, Admiralty Islands with a co-located Direction Finding Station was established on June 17, 1944. The U.S. Naval Auxillary Airfield at Ponam Island opened at the beginning of August, 1944, and the Royal Navy took up residence there. The first U.S. squadron to operate from Ponam was Marine Fighter Squadron 312 (VMF-312), with 24 FG-1 Corsais, operating from Ponam between late August and early December, 1944. VP-130 with 15 Lockheed PV-1 Vega "Ventura" aircraft arrived in mid-October, via Pityilu, to continue training and provide ASW and anti-shipping patrols. VP-130 departed November 1, 1944 for Owi Island. The entertainer Bob Hope made an unscheduled visit to Ponam in late 1944, a show was organised for personnel form the surrounding bases before his party moved on. The Ponam Island station was fully equipped; there were workshops, a small hospital, cinema, church, officers and ratings messes, and a cookhouse. The living quarters were Quonset huts that housed about 20 men per hut. These were corrugated metal huts constructed within coconut palm groves; it was necessary to be careful where you were walking because of the danger from falling coconuts. It was not uncommon in the middle of the night to have a coconut drop onto a Quonset hut, which would make the corrugated iron structure ring out like a giant bell and shake up the sleeping occupants. The toilet facilities (the ‘heads’ in Naval terminology) at both Pityilu and Ponam were somewhat primitive, a covered hut at the end of a dock built out over the waters inside the reef. The sides were laced with strips of olive coloured cloth that gave no feeling of privacy. The showers were out in the open and there was usually a string of naked men walking back and forth wearing only a towel. On April 2, 1945, the former U.S. Naval Airfield Ponam commissioned as HMS Nabaron, Royal Naval Air (RAF) Station Ponam. The station woperated under harsh tropical conditions for the next seven and a half months, providing reserve aircraft for the British Patrol Fleet, together with training and limited R&R for carrier based personnel. Lodger facilities were granted on Pityilu Island from early in 1945. At the conclusion of World War II, on October 10, 1945, the U.S. Naval Supplementary Radio Station and Direction Finding Station on Manus Island were disestablished and closed. RAF units were withdrawn from Ponam island on October 31, 1945. The last of her personnel and equipment was evacuated by HMS Unicorn and HMS Chaser. HMS Nabaron, RAF Station Ponam was closed on November 10, 1945, the airfield returning to U.S. Navy control. There is no recorded use of the airfield on Ponam by the U.S. Navy after the RAF withdrew. U.S. Naval Air Station, Pityilu Island was closed by the U.S. Navy on September 1, 1947. After the war the U.S. Naval Operating base at Lorengau was scrapped and all equipment was bulldozed into pits or into the harbor. Administered by Australia after World War II, the islands became part of the newly independent nation of Papua New Guinea in 1975. Naval Supplementary Radio Station (DF), Manus Island, 17 Jun 1944 10 Oct 1945 Lorengau, Admiralty Islands Navy Direction Finding Station Manus Island, Lorengau, Admiralty Islands =================================================================================== Marcus Island, Japan Marcus Island (Minamitori-shima) is an isolated island in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The Japanese meaning of the name is "Southern Bird Island". It is 1.2 square kilometers in area and five miles in circumference. It is the easternmost territory belonging to Japan, 989 miles southeast of Tokyo, and 600 mileseast of the closest Japanese island, South Iwo Jima of the Ogasawara Islands; and nearly on a straight line between Tokyo and Wake Island, which is 1,415 kilometers east-southeast. Marcus Island is 2,720 nautical miles west of Hawaii. The closest island, however, is Farallon de Pajaros of the Marianas Islands, which is 1,021 kilometers west-southwest of Marcus Island. It is triangular in shape and low lying. It was created by coral which eventually turned into a landmass. The island is surrounded by a fringing reef which range from 50 meters to 300 meters in width. The island is unusual as it gets higher the closer you get to the coast. The central area of the island is 1 meter below sea level, whilst the coast is about 5 to 8 meters above sea level. That the island was initially discovered by Captain Arriola in 1694, is not established. Its location was left unrecorded until further sightings in the early 19th century. The island is first mentioned in 1864, given a position by a U.S. survey ship in 1874, and first landed on by Kiozaemon Saito in 1879. Japan officially annexed the island on July 24, 1898. The U.S. claim from 1889, according to the Guano Islands Act, being not officially acknowledged. Sovereignty over the island before WWI was apparently disputed as various sources from the time move the island from the American to Japanese domain, without specific explanation. In 1914, William D. Boyce included Marcus Island as an obviously American island in his book, "The Colonies and Dependencies of the United States". In 1902, an American scientific expedition from Honolulu put in at Marcus Island, in the hopes of retrieving guano deposits. A Japanese marine force barred them, but did allow the party to land under heavy guard. The Japanese allowed a scientist to retrieve some wildlife specimens, gave the expedition some water and coconuts, then forced the scientists to depart. During World War II, there were over 4,000 Japanese soldiers stationed on the island. Marcus Island had three Japanese airplane runways, and was used as a base of operations against U.S. submarines. Marcus Island was also used as an air route link to the Japanese held Marshall Islands, Gilbert Islands and Wake Island. A U.S. Navy task force attacked Marcus Island and smashed Japanese hangars, runways, and ammunition dumps on April 6, 1942; and attacked again on August 30-31, 1943. But on both occasions, never attempted to capture it. The 1943 attack was conducted by Navy Task Force 15, consisting of the aircraft carriers USS Essex (CV-9) and USS Yorktown (CV-10), the light carrier USS Independence (CVL-22), the battleship Indiana (BB-58), four destroyers, two cruisers, and a fleet oiler. the island was captured from the Japanese during a landing in September, 1943. A U.S. Navy Direction Finding Station was established on Marcus Island on September, 1943, and was closed in May, 1944, when Marcus Island was no longer strategically important. In 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco moved the island to American jurisdiction. In 1964, the U.S. Coast Guard opened a LORAN-C navigation station on Marcus Island, whose mast was, until 1985, one of the tallest structures in the Pacific area. In the 1980s, the Loran station was maintained by 23 Coastguardsmen. They were based there on one year tours, with a visit to mainland Japan at the six month point. On Fridays, a C-130 from the 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron, Yokota AFB, Japan would resupply the island. Coastguardsmen (often referred to as Coasties) would often line the terminus of the runway, and judge the C-130 landings, by raising placards with large numbers. An unusually long four hour ground time allowed the Coasties to read and answer letters. Aircrews used this time to snorkel and collect green glass fishing bouys that wash up on the shore. It takes about 45 minutes to walk around the island. A rusted-out Japanese mini-tank was a reminder of the island's history. The island itself was sold to Japan in 1968. The Coast Guard Station continued to operate, until the station was transferred from the U.S. Coast Guard to the Government of Japan on September 30, 1993. The island is presently used for weather observation and has a radio station, but little else. Administratively, the island is considered part of Ogasawara village, Tokyo. The USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) was a Casablanca class escort carrier of the U.S. Navy. She was laid down as the Kanalku Bay under Maritime Commission contract in Vancouver, Washington, on September 15, 1943; renamed the Marcus Island on November 6, 1943; launched December 16, 1943; acquired by the Navy January 26, 1944; and commissioned at Astoria, Oregon, on January 26, 1944. After service in World War II, she was decommissioned at Boston, on December 12, 1946, and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She reclassified to CVHE-77 on June 12, 1955 and to AKV-27 on May 7, 1959. She was sold at Boston to Comarket, Inc., on February 29, 1960. Navy Direction Finding Station, Marcus Island, JA Sep 1943 May 1944 at U.S. Navy Radio Station, Marcus Island, CA =================================================================================== Mare Island, Vallejo, California Vallejo is a city in Solano County, California, As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 116,760. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northern shore of San Pablo Bay. The Napa River flows through the city of Vallejo on its journey to the San Pablo Bay. The City of Vallejo was founded in 1844, when General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo saw the promise of the area. Vallejo was once home of the Coastal Miwok, as well as Suisunes and other Patwin Native American tribes. The city of Vallejo was once part of a 66,000 acre Mexican land grant of 1844, by Governor Pío Pico to General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo called the Rancho Soscol. The city was named for this original Mexican military officer and title holder, he helped to settle and oversee the north bay region. General Vallejo wanted the site named Eureka, but the other citizens of the area wanted to name the new city after the General. Neighboring Benicia is named after Vallejo's wife, Francisca Benicia Carrillo. General Vallejo was responsible for military peace in the region until 1846, first under Spanish then Mexican rule, until independently minded Californians rose up against the Mexican government of California in 1846, in the Bear Flag Revolt, and the annexation of California to the U.S. General Vallejo, though a Mexican and Mexican Army officer, generally acquiesced in the annexation of California to the United States, recognizing the greater resources of the U.S. and benefits that would bring to his beloved California. He was a proponenent of reconciliation and statehood after the Bear Flag Revolt, and also has a U.S. Navy submarine, the USS Mariano G. Vallejo (SSBN 658), named after him. The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first U.S. Navy shipyard established on the Pacific Coast. It is located in Solano County, California, approximately 25 miles northeast of San Francisco and approximately 60 miles from Sacramento, California's state capital. The Napa River (Mare Island Strait) separates the peninsula Ship Yard from the city of Vallejo, California. Mare Island is approximately 3.5 miles long and one mile wide. Mare Island Naval Activities property consisted of more than 2,500 acres. Mare Island Navy Yard served as the premier U.S. West Coast submarine port, as well as serving as the controlling force in San Francisco Bay Area shipbuilding efforts during World War II. Mare Island Navy Yard built warships include those that have fought in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II. During World War II, the shipyard repaired and returned to the battle lines 1,227 ships. At Mare Island's high point, in World War II, the shipyard had a population of 46,000. Over the years, the Navy Yard built four submarine tenders and seventeen submarines. Mare Island served as a major Pacific Ocean repair station during the late 1800s, handling American as well as Japanese and Russian vessels in the course of duty. Mare Island also took a commanding role in civil defense and emergency response on the West Coast, dispatching warships to the Pacific Northwest to subdue Native American uprisings. Mare Island sent ships such as USS Wyoming south to Central America and the Panama Canal, to protect U.S. political and commercial interests. Some of the support, logistics and munition requirements for the Spanish-American War were filled by Mare Island. Mare Island sent men, materiel and ships to San Francisco in response to the fires following the 1906 earthquake. Arctic rescue missions were mounted as necessary. Ordnance manufacturing and storage were two further key missions at Mare Island, for nearly all of its active service, including ordnance used prior to the American Civil War. In 1775, Don Perez Ayala, a Spanish explorer, was the first white man to set foot on Mare Island, which he dubbed Isla de la Plana. The first settlers of the region continued the name for the long, low segment of land. Legend, well founded in fact, has it that the island's name was changed in 1835, when a crude ferry, transporting men and livestock between land on either side of the Carquinez Straits, was caught in a small squall, which caused several of the animals to panic, kicking the ferry apart. Some of the animals swam to shore. Most of them, however, were drowned. One prized white mare belonging to General Mariano G. Vallejo, Mexican Commandante for Northern California, was found several days later on Isla de la Plana. Vallejo renamed the "Isla de la Yegua," meaning "Island of the Mare" or Mare Island. It is more probable, however, that some of the early missionaries named it Mare Island, from the Latin mare - the sea; just as the area to which it belongs was doubtless named from the Spanish solano - the east wind; though General Vallejo states that the county so called was named for Solano, the chief of the Suisuns. Gold was discovered in California in 1849, and the great stampede from the eastern shores reached across the broad American continent. This sudden migration westward made it immediately imperative for the U.S. Navy to establish a base on the west coast from which ships of the Pacific Squadron could operate and be repaired. In 1850, Commodore John Drake Sloat was ordered to lead a survey party in quest of a site for the nation's first Pacific Naval installation. Sloat, who had claimed California for the U.S. four years earlier at Monterey, recommended Mare Island, across the Napa River from the little settlement of Vallejo. It was in 1850, too, that the first California legislature accepted General Vallejo's offer to locate the state capital at the new city of Vallejo. The General was then serving as State Senator from the region. Thus, the charts prepared by Navy cartographers in Sloat's surveying party bear the inscription "Site of Vallejo, Seat of Government of California" opposite Mare Island. However, California's government was seated there for only a brief time, moving on to Benicia in 1853, and then on to Sacramento a short time later. But the U.S. Navy remained there for over 140 years. In 1850, according to Land Records, the island was granted to Victor Castro, who soon sold it for $7,000 to Vallejo's son-in-law, John. B. Frisbee, and his partner, B. Simmons. In 1851, the partners sold it to A. W. Aspinwall and G. W. P. Bissell for $17,500. Navy Department officials acted favorably on Commodore Sloat's recommendations and Mare Island was purchased in 1852 for $83,410. A further expenditure of $317,000 was required to put the Pacific Coast Naval Station in simplest working order, mechanics' wages being five and six dollars, while ship carpenters and caulkers rated as high as nine dollars per day. In 1852, construction of the dry dock began in New York; it being built in sections so that it could be dismantled and the sections shipped around Cape Horn. The Navy purchased the original 956 acres in 1853. By the fall of 1853, a basin to hold the dry dock was completed and the dock was in place. Until the Navy could take over, the crews were allowed to work on private contracts. The first vessel to enter the dry dock was the commercial steamer Pacific. In 1854, Commodore David G. Farragut, later to become the Navy's first Admiral was ordered to assume command of the Navy yard at Mare Island. Commodore David G. Farragut arrived September 16, 1854, aboard the ship USS Warren and immediately took command of Mare Island and commenced the creation of a Naval Base that would become the largest of its kind in the nation. Within days, the USS Warrren was towed from Sausalito to Mare Island and was the first Navy ship to dock at Mare Island Navy Yard. The boat was outfitted with living quarters and became home to the Farraguts, Colonel Daniel Turner and his family, and a few others. The Navy Yard commenced shipbuilding operations on September 16, 1854. A flagpole was erected and on October 3, 1854, the first hoisting of the American flag took place with a 13-gun salute. Mare Island Navy Yard became the first Naval Base on the Pacific Coast. In 1855, the commandant's house, a large brick building, was completed as living quarters for the Farragut family. Commander Farragut departed Mare Island in 1858 to gain immortal fame at the U.S. Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay. His cry of "Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead" shall always remain among the most cherished of American Naval traditions. Mare Island's first ship, the paddle-wheeled gunboat Saginaw, was launched before the Civil War, in 1859. By 1866, the Mare Island fleet numbered nearly 700 ships. A Civil War era U.S. Army Post was established in late 1861, at the Mare Island Navy Yard, adjacent to Vallejo in San Francisco Bay. The purpose of the post was to guard against secessionist attacks. The USS Independence was docked in the Mare Island harbor, and used as a barracks for 25 soldiers and occasional marines. The expected attacks did not materialize and the guard was suspended after four months in early 1862. Built in 1873, the Mare Island Lighthouse was located on the north shore of San Pablo Bay at the entrance to Carquinez Strait; on the southern tip of Mare Island, adjacent to the town of Vallejo, California. The 76 foot square shaped tower lighthouse, constructed of wood and iron, was attached to the keeper's dwelling. The structure of the lighthouse was very similar to San Francisco’s East Brother Lighthouse. The fixed white light was provided by a fourth order Fresenl lens. The foghorn was a Gamewell fog bell striking apparatus No. 2, which was automated in 1916. The lighthouse was deactivated in 1917, and the lighthouse building and tower were razed in the 1930's. The small ferryboat Pinafore was built in Mare Island, and chugged between Mare Island and Vallejo for 30 years, starting in the 1890's. By 1892, the Mare Island Navy Yard included office buildings, Commandant's residence, Officer's Quarters, Marine Barracks and adjuncts, a Naval Hospital and accessories, Naval Magazine reservation and buildings, lighthouse reservation and buildings, stone drydock and buildings, receiving ship and cemetery reservation, foundry and machine shops; storehouse and workshops of the Department of Construction and Repairs; storehouse and workshops of the Department of Equipment and Repairs; yards, docks and workshops; Bureau of Navigation; store-house, sawmill, and stables. In 1900, 46 years after establishment of the Mare Island Navy Yard, the U.S. Navy purchased the first submarine, the USS Holland, named for its inventor John P. Holland. Following the purchase of the Holland, the Navy set out to build its first class of submarines, designated as the "A" class. Two of these submarines, A-3, the USS Grampus, and A-4, the USS Pike, were built commencing in December 1900, by Union Iron Works, a San Francisco company and subcontractor for the John P. Holland Torpedo Boat Company of New York. The USS Grampus, and USS Pike were launched in 1902, and were commissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard in 1903. The two submarines were the first U.S. submarines stationed on the West Coast. Over the next three and a half years, Grampus and Pike operated out of the Mare Island-San Francisco area. These strange little craft were only sixty feet long, with an eleven-foot beam. The submarines, often called "divers", did most of their cruising in the shallow reaches of San Pablo Bay, and underwater trips were usually only a couple of hours long. The two submarines were ultimately assigned to the 1st Submarine Division, Pacific Torpedo Flotilla in 1910, and to the Pacific Fleet in 1911, operating locally off the California coast. In 1903, Mare Island Navy Yard also became a submarine repair center, adding a Submarine Training Center and Base to the ever expanding Navy Yard. Navy Yard Mare Island built its first submarine, the USS Nautilus (V-6), a five million dollar submarine, the first of its type to be constructed in the Yard. The Nautilus was authorized in 1916 and funded on February 11, 1925. The keel was laid on August 2, 1927. The USS Nautilus was launched on Saturday, March 15, 1930, becoming Mare Island's first in a long line of submarines that the Navy Yard Mare Island would build. Mare Island was selected by the Navy for construction of the only US West Coast built battleship, the USS California, which was launched in 1919. In 1940, the Navy bought the commercial docks at Hunter's Point and commenced development of the Naval Shipyard at Hunter's Point. Late in December 1941, Hunter's Point docks were completely taken over from the Bethleham Steel Company, and placed in operation as an Annex to the Navy Yard, Mare Island. On December 7, 1941, an urgent transmission came across the Fleet broadcast: AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR. THIS IS NO DRILL. Within the hour, Mare Island was transformed for war. The Yard's and harbor defenses were immediately manned and all leaves cancelled. Anti-aircraft batteries were hauled in by the Army from Fort Haan at Riverside. Guards were immediately doubled and the Navy immediately established a rigid censorship of all mail and communications. Marines at the Main Gate stopped every car even before they reached the guard house and conducted a complete search of every vehicle. In 1942, a Navy Direction Finding Station was established at Mare Island, on the site where the Mare Island Lighthouse had stood; located on the north shore of San Pablo Bay at the entrance to Carquinez Strait, on the southern tip of Mare Island. The station was manned by U.S. Navy Radiomen stationed at the U.S. Naval Radio Station, Mare Island. After WWII, in 1945, the U.S. Navy Direction Finding Station was closed, and a Navy Radio Beacon was installed. During World War II, Mare Island reached peak capacity for shipbuilding, repair, overhaul, and maintenance of many different kinds of seagoing vessels, including both surface combatants and submarines. Mare Island even received Royal Navy cruisers and destroyers and four Soviet Navy subs for service. During World War II, the Ship Yard set a record that was never broken, building the destroyer USS Ward, in 17 1/2 days. During World War II, it repaired 1,227 ships and built 391 new ships, including 17 submarines, 4 subtenders, 31 destroyer escorts, 33 small craft, and more than 300 landing craft. After World War II, in 1948, Mare Island was designated as a major overhaul and repair facility for submarines. In 1955, Mare Island was awarded the contract to build USS Sargo, the first nuclear submarine laid down at a Pacific base. The Sargo was commissioned in 1958. After the Sargo, Mare Island built seven more nuclear submarines: USS Scamp, USS Halibut, USS Permit, USS Plunger, USS Guitarro, USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Drum. During this time, Mare Island was also building non-nuclear subs such as two of the three Barracuda-class submarines and the USS Grayback, an early guided missile launcher. Mare Island was often assigned the task of overhaul and/or redesign of submarines built at other shipyards. In 1965, Mare Island Navy Yard and San Francisco Naval Shipyard were merged and renamed San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard. With sites at Mare Island and Hunters Point, it was the largest Naval Shipyard in the world. The San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard was disestablished in February, 1970, and Mare Island was recommissioned as the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Hunters Point was closed in 1973. In 1969, during the Vietnam War, the U.S. Navy transferred their Brown Water Navy Riverine Training Operations from Coronado, California to Mare Island. Motorists travelling along Highway 37 from the Vallejo/Fairfield areas to the Bay Area, which passes through Mare Island, could often view U.S. Navy Swift Boats (PCF- Patrol Craft Fast) and PBR's (Patrol Boat River), among other riverine type boats, maneuvering through the sloughs of the currently named Napa-Sonoma State Wildlife Area; which borders the north and west portions of Mare Island. U.S. Navy Reserve Units still operate the slough portions of the State Wildlife Area for training purposes, as the navigable waters are considered public property. The U.S. Navy Brown Water Riverine Forces deactivated after the Vietnam War, maintaining only the U.S. Naval Reserve PBR's and auxiliary craft at Mare Island, until the 1996 base closure; at which time the Reserve units moved to new facilities in Sacramento, California. 1970 saw the launching of USS Drum, the last ship built at Mare Island, and the last nuclear submarine built in California. In 1972, the Navy officially ceased building new nuclear submarines at Mare Island, though overhaul of existing vessels continued. The USS Nautilus was decommissioned at Mare Island in 1980, then rigged for towing back to Groton, Connecticut to serve as a museum of Naval history. In 1993, the Mare Island Naval Shipyard consisted of 996 buildings with 10.5 million square feet of space, 4 dry docks, 20 ship berths, 2 shipbuilding ways, 3 finger piers, 21 large industrial sites, a school, 2 day care centers, a medical clinic, 3 fire stations, a golf course, 2 athletic fields, 3 swimming pools, 9 tennis courts, a riding stables, and 416 housing units. Mare Island Naval Shipyard expanded to over 5,200 acres in its service life, and was responsible for construction of 512 Naval vessels and overhauling thousands of other vessels. Though it remained a strong contender for continued operations, Mare Island was identified for closure during the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process of 1993. Naval operations ceased and the facility was decommissioned on April 1, 1996. The California Conservation Corps, Touro University, and numerous commercial and industrial businesses are currently leasing property aboard the former Naval Ship Yard. Many of these businesses are still served via the California Northern Railroad (CFNR), which maintains rights to operate what was once over 100 miles of track used for transporting ship building supplies on the island. In May 2000, the Navy completed the transfer of a former housing area called Roosevelt Terrace using an economic development conveyance; a method to accelerate the transfer of BRAC facilities back to civilian communities for their economic benefit. The Navy is also transferring property at the Ship Yard to other government agencies such as Fish and Wildlife Service refuge, a Forest Service office building, an Army Reserve Center, a Coast Guard communications facility, and a Department of Education school. Navy Direction Finding Station, Mare Island, CA 1942 1945 at U.S. Naval Radio Station, Mare Island, CA =================================================================================== Melbourne, Moorabbin, Victoria, Australia Melbourne (Aussie pronounciation mel' ben) is the second most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 3.74 million (2006 estimate). Located around Port Phillip Bay in the country's south-east, Melbourne is the state capital of Victoria. A person from Melbourne is officially called a Melburnian. Moorabbin is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located approximately 16 kilometers southeast of the Melbourne Central Business District. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston. Most of the eastern side of Moorabbin has been an industrial area since the first development in the mid 1960s. Major industries with a presence in the area include Philip Morris and Coca-Cola. Moorabbin is also well known locally for its residential area built after World War II. While by name Moorabbin would appear to be home to the regional general airport Moorabbin Airport, the airport, also called the Harry Hawker Airport, is actually located in Mentone. Moorabbin is serviced by a variety of Metlink public transport bus and train services including Moorabbin Station. The word Moorabbin is believed to have come from the Wurundjeri Aboriginal word for "resting place". Melbourne is a major center of commerce, industry and cultural activity. The city is often referred to as Australia's "sporting and cultural capital", and it is home to many of the nation's most significant cultural and sporting events and institutions. It has been recognised as a global city by the Loughborough University group's 1999 inventory, Melbourne is notable for its mix of Victorian and contemporary architecture, its extensive tram network and Victorian parks and gardens, and its diverse, multicultural society. It was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Melbourne was founded by free settlers in 1835, 47 years after the first European settlement of Australia, as a pastoral settlement situated around the Yarra River. Transformed rapidly into a major metropolis by the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s, "Marvellous Melbourne" became Australia's largest and most important city by 1865, but was overtaken by Sydney as the largest city in Australia during the early 20th century. Melbourne served as the capital city of Australia from the time of the new nation's Federation in 1901, until Federal Parliament moved to the new, purpose- built capital, Canberra, in 1927. The area of the Yarra River and Port Phillip that is now Melbourne was first settled by the British in 1835. These settlers came from Launceston, Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land). The area was already inhabited by the indigenous Kulin people. A transaction was negotiated for 600,000 acres (2,400 square kilometers) of land from eight Wurundjeri chiefs; this was later annulled by the New South Wales government (then governing all of eastern mainland Australia), which compensated the settlers. In 1836, Governor Bourke declared the city the administrative capital of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, and commissioned the first plan for the Hoddle Grid in 1837. The settlement was named Melbourne in the same year after the British Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who resided in the village of Melbourne in Derbyshire. Melbourne was declared a city by Queen Victoria on June 25, 1847. The state of Victoria was established as a separate colony in 1851, with Melbourne as its capital. With the discovery of gold in Victoria in the 1850s, leading to the Victorian gold rush, Melbourne grew rapidly, providing the majority of service industries and serving as the major port for the region. The city became a major finance centre, home to several banks and to Australia's first stock exchange (founded in 1861). During the 1880s, Melbourne was one of the largest cities in the British Empire, and reputedly the richest city in the world. This period saw the construction of many high-rise Victorian buildings, Coffee Palaces, terrace housing, grand boulevards and gardens throughout the city. Examples of this Victorian architecture still abound in Melbourne. So impressed was journalist George Augustus Henry Sala during his visit in 1885, that he coined the phrase "Marvellous Melbourne" to describe the booming city, a phrase which stuck and is used by its locals and the media to this day. The brash boosterism which typified Melbourne during this time came to a halt in 1891 when a world economic depression hit the city's economy, sending the finance and property industries into chaos. The effects of the depression on the city were profound, although it did continue to grow slowly during the early 20th century. At the time of Australia's Federation on January 1, 1901, Melbourne was specified as the temporary seat of government and remained the national capital until 1927, when the Federal parliament was moved to the planned city of Canberra. The first Federal parliament was convened on May 9, 1901 in the Royal Exhibition Building. Melbourne was the Allied Pacific Headquarters during World War II, from 1942 to 1944. General Douglas MacArthur established his headquarters in Australia, as the launch base for Pacific operations. On December 8, 1941, the Japanese begin bombing the Philippines. On December 22, 1941, the Japanese invasion force landed at Lingayen, 100 miles west of Manila. Evacuations from Manilla commenced on December 24, 1941 and units moved to Corregidor. Most units were broken up, and personnel were dispersed. Those intercept operators that remained, opened a small intercept station in Corregidor's Malinta Tunnel. = On March 17, 1942, General MacArthur left the Philippines for Australia. U.S. Army and U.S. Navy Radio Intelligence Units evacuated from Corregidor on April 14, 1942, and were flown to Melbourne, Australia; where they joined MacArthur's operations there. Other units departed in the various evacuations conducted prior to the final fall of the island. General Douglas MacArthur escaped from Corregidor in the Philippines in a PT boat to Mindanao and flew to Australia from Del Monte on a B-17 Flying Fortress. He made his way to Melbourne, arriving there on March 22, 1942. One of his first decisions when he arrived in Melbourne was to expand the Signals Intelligence operations that already existed in Australia. The U.S. Navy Radio Intelligence Unit that had been evacuated from Manila in early January, 1942 was operating in Melbourne. MacArthur released orders for a joint American-Australian Signals Intelligence organization called Central Bureau to be established, with its headquarters based in Melbourne. General MacArthur advised Washington of his decision in a despatch on April 1, 1942. He described the role of the group as "the interception and cryptanalyzing of Japanese intelligence". American interceptor operators, who had survived the Malinta Tunnel at Corregidor, were brought to Australia by submarine. A group of cryptographic, cryptanalytic and translator personnel, from the Japanese section of the Washington Signal Intelligence Service, were also moved to Australia. Initially, Central Bureau was made up of 50% American, 25% Australian Army and 25% Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel. By July 6, 1942, the intercept operator numbers at Central Bureau had increased from six to twenty nine. On July 20, 1942, General MacArthur moved his Headquarters to Brisbane. Central Bureau immediately relocated to Brisbane. The U.S. Navy Comunications Radio Intelligence Unit, that had evacuated to Corregidor in January, 1942; evacuated yet again to Melbourne on April 14, 1942. In May, 1942, Fleet Radio Unit Pacific (FRUPAC) Detachment, Melbourne (later FRUMEL), and the U.S. Navy Comunications Radio Intelligence Unit, Melbourne were activated at the U.S. Naval Supplementary Radio Station, at the town of Moorabbin, approximately 16 kilometers southeast of Melbourne. Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne (FRUMEL) was a U.S.-Australian-British signals intelligence unit, based in Melbourne, Australia during World War II. It was one of two major Allied signals intelligence units in the Pacific theatres, the other being FRUPAC (also known as Station Hypo), in Hawaii. FRUMEL was an inter-navy organiZation, subordinate to the Commander of the U.S Seventh Fleet, while the separate Central Bureau in Melbourne was attached to the Allied South West Pacific Area command headquarters. FRUMEL was established at the Montery Apartments in Queens Road, in early 1942, and was made up of three main groups. First was a 75-man codebreaker unit, previously based at the U.S. Navy's Station Cast, in the Philippines, before being evacuated by submarine on April 8, 1942. The second was a small Royal Australian Navy-supported cryptography unit, which had moved to the Montery Apartments from Victoria Barracks in February, 1942. The U.S. Navy unit was made up of a core of Naval personnel, heavily assisted by university academics and graduates specialising in linguistics and mathematics. The third group was a trio of British Foreign Office linguists and Royal Navy support staff, evacuated from Singapore. During World War II, Melbourne industries thrived on wartime production and the city became Australia's leading manufacturing center. After the war, Melbourne expanded rapidly, with its growth boosted by an influx of immigrants and the prestige of hosting the Olympic Games. Australia's mining boom between 1969 and 1970 proved beneficial to Melbourne, with the headquarters of many of the major companies (BHP, Rio Tinto and many others) based in the city. Nauru's booming mineral economy fuelled several ambitious investments in Melbourne such as Nauru House. Melbourne remained Australia's business and finance capital until the late 1970s, when it began to lose this primacy to Sydney. Melbourne experienced the worst of Victoria's economic slump between 1989 to 1992. In 1992, a newly elected Victorian government began a campaign to restore the economy with an aggressive development campaign of public works and major events centred on Melbourne and the promotion of the city as a tourist destination. Major projects included the Melbourne Museum, Federation Square, the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, Crown Casino and CityLink tollway. Other strategies included the privatization of some of Melbourne's services including power and public transport, and a reduction in funding to public services such as health and education. Since 1997, Melbourne has maintained significant population and employment growth. There has been substantial international investment in the city's industries and property market, and 2006 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that since 2000, Melbourne has sustained the highest population and economic growth rate of any Australian capital city. Navy Comunications Radio Intelligence Unit, Manilla, Dec 1940 Jan 1942 Luzon, Philippines Evacuated to Corregidor Navy Comunications Radio Intelligence Unit, Corregidor, Jan 1942 14 Apr 1942 Luzon, Philippines Evacuated to Melbourne, Australia 14 Apr 1942 Fleet Radio Unit Pacific (FRUPAC) Detachment, May 1942 01 Nov 1945 Melbourne (FRUMEL), Australia Navy Comunications Radio Intelligence Unit, Melbourne May 1942 01 Nov 1945 at Naval Supplementary Radio Station Moorabbin, Melbourne, Australia =================================================================================== Morotai Island, Netherlands East Indies, Indonesia Morotai Island is an island with an area of 695 square miles, located in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is part of North Maluku province, and is one of Indonesia's most northerly islands. During the 15th and 16th centuries, Morotai was generally within the sphere of influence of the powerful sultanate on the island of Ternate. It was the core of a larger region, called Moro, that included the island and the coastline of Halmahera closest to Morotai to the south. The Maluku Islands (also known as the Moluccas, Moluccan Islands, the Spice Islands or simply Maluku) are an archipelago in Indonesia, and part of the larger Malay Archipelago. They are located on the Australian Plate, lying east of Sulawesi (Celebes), west of New Guinea, and north of Timor. The islands were also historically known as the "Spice Islands" by the Chinese and Europeans, but this term has also been applied to other islands. Netherlands East Indies (present day Indonesia) was first named "Indonesia" by a German geographer in 1884, although this name is thought to derive from Indos Nesos, "Indian Islands," in the ancient trading language of the region. The Portuguese conquered Malacca in the early sixteenth century and their lasting influence was most strongly felt in Maluku and other parts of eastern Indonesia. Following the Portuguese conquest of Malacca in August, 1511, Afonso de Albuquerque learned the route to the Banda Islands and other 'Spice Islands', and sent an exploratory expedition of three vessels under the command of Antonio de Abreu, Simão Afonso Bisigudo and Francisco Serrão. On the way to return, Francisco Serrão was shipwrecked at Hitu island (northern Ambon) in 1512. There he established ties with the local ruler who was impressed with his martial skills. The rulers of the competing island states of Ternate and Tidore also sought Portuguese assistance and were welcomed in the area as buyers of food and spices during a lull in the spice trade due to a temporary disruption to Javanese and Malay sailings to the area following the 1511 conflicts in Malacca. In the mid-16th century, the island was also the site of a Portuguese Jesuit mission. The Muslim states on Ternate and Halmahera resented the outpost for its proselytising activities, and managed to drive the mission from the island in 1571, as a part of a larger Portuguese retreat in the region. In the 17th century, Ternate further exerted its power over Morotai by repeatedly forcing major parts of the population to move off the island. Early in the century most of the population was moved to Dodinga, a small town in a strategic spot on Halmahera's west coast. The Dutch arrived in 1599 and reported native discontent with Portuguese attempts to monopolise their traditional trade. After the Ambonese helped the Dutch to construct a fort at Hitu Larna, the Portuguese begun a campaign of retribution against which the Ambonese invited Dutch aid. After 1605 Frederik Houtman became the first Dutch governor of Ambon. The Dutch East-India Company was a company with three obstacles in its way: the Portuguese, controlling the aboriginal populations, and the British. Again smuggling would be the only alternative to a European monopoly. Later, in 1627 and 1628, Sultan Hamzah of Ternate had much of the Christian population of the island moved to Malayu, on Ternate, where they could be more easily controlled. Though other races re-settled the Banda Islands, the rest of Maluku remained uneasy under foreign control and even after the Portuguese had a new trading station at Macassar there were native revolts in 1636 and 1646. Under company control northern Maluka was administered by the Dutch residency of Ternate, and the southern by "Amboyna" (Ambon). Through the end of the 16th century, and the beginning of the 17th century, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and Britain repeated disputes over the rights and interests of spices, and the residents in Maluku Islands were involved in the conflicts. Those conflicts were called "Spice Wars". Therefore, the history of spices in Maluku Islands was written in the blood of the inhabitants of islands. Among other events of the 17th century, the Bandanese attempted independent trade with the British, the East- India Company's response was to decimate the native population of the Banda Islands sending the survivors fleeing to other islands and installing slave labor. On March 17, 1824, The British and Dutch signed the "Treaty of London" and divided the Indies. The Dutch claim Sumatra, Java, Maluku, Irian Jaya; the British claimed Malaya and Singapore, and retained an interest in North Borneo. Many of the boundaries defined in this treaty, would later become the boundaries of the Republic of Indonesia. Morotai Island was taken by the Japanese during World War II, and a Japanese airbase was erected. During the Japanese occupation in World War II, the Moluccans fled to the mountains, but began a campaign of resistance also known as the South Moluccan Brigade. Morotai Island was taken by American forces in September, 1944. A Navy Direction Finding Station was established on Morotai Island in September, 1944. The Maluku Islands were used as a staging point for the Allied invasion of the Philippines, in early 1945. The Navy Radio Direction Finding Station on Morotai Island was abandoned on February 3, 1945. The unit personnel were transferred to the Navy Direction Finding Station Leyte, Naval Supplementary Radio Station (DF) Leyte, in the Philippines; which was established on July 16, 1945. The Maluku Islands were also used as a staging point the Allied invasions of Borneo in May and June of 1945; and as bases for the planned October, 1945 invasion of Java that was cancelled after the Japanese surrendered in August, 1945. With the end of the Second World War in 1945, the island's political leaders had successful discussions with the Netherlands about independence. Indonesia declared independence from the Netherlands in August, 1945; and claimed West Papua, East Timor, Sarawak, Brunei and North Borneo as part of its territory. Complicated by Indonesian demands, the Round Table Conference Agreements were signed in 1949, transferring Maluku to Indonesia. On December 27, 1949 Indonesia gained full independence from the Netherlands. The Maluku Islands formed a single province from 1950 until 1999. In 1999 the North Maluku (Maluku Utara) and Halmahera Tengah (Central Halmahera) regency were split off as a separate province, so the islands are now divided between two provinces, Maluku and North Maluku. Between 1999 and 2002 they were known for religious conflicts between Muslims and Christians, but have been peaceful in the past years. Navy Direction Finding Station, Morotai Island Sep 1944 03 Feb 1945 Transferred to Navy Direction Finding Station, Naval Supplentary Radio Station (DF) Leyte, P.I. =================================================================================== Muirkirk, Maryland Muirkirk is a locality in central Maryland in the United States, located between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. It is located along U.S. Route 1 between Beltsville and Laurel, and it contains a stop on the MARC commuter rail (on the Camden line). Muirkirk is located in the northern part of Prince George's County. Naval Supplementary Radio Station (DF RI) Muirkirk, MD Sep 1942 ?? ??? ?? Counter Intelligence (CI) Research Station established Sep 1942 East Coast Equipment Research Station ================================================================================== New Dungeness, Washington The New Dungeness Light Station, built in 1857, is the second oldest lighthouse in Washington state. It marks the end of Dungeness Spit, the longest natural sand spit in the world, extending approximately six miles northeast from the mainland into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. From the sea, this low-lying sandy shoal is barely visible, making it an extreme hazard to shipping. Even with a beacon and fog signal, numerous vessels have run aground there. Located in Clallam County, the New Dungeness Lighthouse continues to be an important aid to navigation in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. New Dungeness Spit is situated on the Olympic Peninsula in northeastern Clallam County, approximately 12 miles east of Port Angeles and five miles north of Sequim. On July 8, 1790, the Spanish explorer Manuel Quimper landed here and named the bluff behind the spit, Punta de Santa Cruz and the bay, Puerto de Quimper. Captain George Vancouver (1758-1798) of the British Navy named this area New Dungeness on April 30, 1792, because he thought this low sandy point of land resembled Dungeness, a low promontory that lies at the southernmost point of Kent in the Straits of Dover. The S’Klallam Indians called New Dungeness Spit, Tsi-tsa-kwick and the bay, Tses-kut. Local residents named one arm of the long sandbar Graveyard Spit because 17 Tsimshian (Chimsean) Indians from British Columbia were supposedly buried there following a massacre by S’Klallam Indians in 1868. Mariners nicknamed the barely visible sandbar Shipwreck Spit for good reason, as numerous vessels had run aground on the outside beach. A local name for the New Dungeness area was Whiskey Flat. In 1848, the Congressional Act that created the Oregon Territory specified Cape Disappointment and New Dungeness as potential sites for a lighthouses. In 1850, Congress appropriated funds for the U.S. Lighthouse Establishment to build 16 lighthouses on the West Coast, but the Treasury Department re-allocated most of those funds into other projects. In August, 1854, Congress allotted $39,000 to build lighthouses at both Cape Flattery and New Dungeness. In 1855, the U.S. Coast Survey recommended the lighthouse be located on New Dungeness Spit. Further delays were caused in the mid-1950s by Indian hostilities. Under the supervision of Lighthouse Service engineer Isaac Smith and the Army Corps of Engineers, construction of the light station near the tip of New Dungeness Spit began in 1856. With inclement weather and the difficulty of getting supplies to the remote site, it took Smith a year and a half to complete the project. The lighthouse, designed by renowned U.S. Lighthouse Service architect Ammi B. Young, was a one-and-a- half-story Cape Cod style keeper's dwelling with a conical tower rising from the center. The lighthouse foundation was built of two-foot thick Chuckanut Sandstone blocks shipped from Bellingham. Bricks and stucco were used to finish the structure. When completed, the light tower rose 91 feet above the spit, and 100 feet above sea level. The lower half of the tower was painted white and the upper half black, making it an effective day marker. The tower, surmounted by a red lantern, was equipped with a fixed third-order Fresnel Lens made in 1855 by Henri LePaute of Paris. The new beacon was said to be visible for 18 miles. The lighthouse dwelling remained unpainted. A fog bell was located northeast of the lighthouse on the outer extremity of the point. The 1,200-pound bronze bell was cast in 1855 at the J. Bernhard foundry in Philadelphia. The striking mechanism, housed in the fog signal building, was a 1,440-pound device called a Gamewell Fog Bell Striking Apparatus, manufactured by the John N. Gamewell Company, Newton, Massachusetts. The Gamewell apparatus used a complex system of descending weights to ring the bell with a sledgehammer, and had to be rewound every 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the apparatus was unreliable and often broke down, requiring the light keepers to strike the bell manually with hammers for endless hours. During foggy weather at New Dungeness, the bell was supposed ring five times at intervals of 10 seconds. One disadvantage of the site in early years was the lack of fresh water, which had to be barged two and a half miles from the town of New Dungeness. This was somewhat remedied by installing a water shed and cistern to collect rainwater. Other facilities built at the station included a privy and a boathouse, as almost all of the travel to the mainland was accomplished by small boat. The New Dungeness Lighthouse was commissioned on December 14, 1857, two weeks ahead of its near twin at Cape Flattery on Tatoosh Island. Franklin Tucker and John Tibbals of Port Townsend were temporarily assigned to tend the New Dungeness light until Captain Thomas Boyling, the assigned lighthouse keeper, and Henry H. Blake (1837-1871), his assistant, arrived back from California. Captain Boyling was master of the schooner Williamantic hauling lumber from Port Ludlow to San Francisco; Blake may have been a crew member. They arrived at New Dungeness on February 11, 1858, to relieve Tucker and Tibbals. Captain Boyling apparently decided he preferred being a sea captain to being responsible for a remote lighthouse, for as of March 1, 1858, Henry H. Blake was listed as the principal keeper at the New Dungeness Light Station. The 1860 U.S. Census for Clallam County shows Henry H. Blake, age 23, as the light keeper and his brother Walter J. Blake, age 18, as the assistant keeper at the New Dungeness Lighthouse; Boyling is not listed. Henry Blake was officially relieved of his duties by Jacob J. Rodgers (or Rogers) on September 18, 1868, but apparently didn’t leave the station right away. Consequently, the Blakes were still living at the New Dungeness Light Station when the Dungeness Massacre, the last major bloodletting among the Indians in this area, took place. Just before dawn on September 21, 1868, a band of 26 S’Klallam Indians conducted a raid on a party of 18 Tsimshian Indians camped on New Dungeness Spit waiting for daylight and good weather before making the 22-mile journey north, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Vancouver Island. During the attack, 17 Tsimshians were killed and one, a pregnant woman, was wounded and left for dead. The injured woman managed to make it to the lighthouse, where the Blakes gave her refuge. Later, Henry Blake took the woman to the home of Benjamin Rainey, whose wife was from the Tsimshian tribe. The Tsimshian murder victims were buried on a branch of the spit that became known as Graveyard Spit. After about six weeks, the woman recovered her health and was sent home to Fort Simpson, near Prince Rupert, B.C., aboard the Hudson's Bay Company steamer Otter. Henry Blake and family apparently left New Dungeness Spit sometime after the massacre, relieved by Jacob J. Rodgers, his wife Ester, and George K. Smith and his daughters Mary and Ella. The 1870 U.S. Census for Clallam County shows that Ester E. Rodgers and Mary L. Smith were assistant lighthouse keepers at New Dungeness and Henry Blake took up logging for a living. He died in 1871 in Port Townsend. On December 2, 1871, the Pacific Northwest was struck by gale winds causing a large breach to occur in the New Dungeness Spit west of the light station and washing away 100 feet of beach on the eastern tip. The lighthouse was now temporarily situated on a island. Eventually, silt from the New Dungeness River and sand washed up from the Strait of Juan de Fuca filled in the gap and the light station became accessible by land once again. Weather has always been an important factor for the New Dungeness Light Station, eroding beaches and damaging structures. In the near past, the spit has been breached by storms in 1971, 1975, 1993, 1996, and 1997. In 1873, Congress appropriated $8,000 for an improved fog signal. In 1874, a fog signal building, housing a coal-fired boiler and steam-operated 12-inch fog whistle, was built 450 feet northeast of the lighthouse. A large water shed and two additional cisterns, with a capacity of 35,000 gallons, were built to collect fresh rain water for the steam whistle’s boiler. The whistle blew 600 to 700 hours per year and the keepers had to feed the boiler about 40 gallons of water and 200 pounds of coal for every hour of operation. Recognizing the difficulty of moving tons of coal from the beach one quarter mile to the coal house and tending the fog whistle, the Lighthouse Board assigned a second assistant keeper to the New Dungeness Light Station and built a tramway connecting the beach and boathouse to the fog signal building and lighthouse, making it easier to move supplies in bulk. But ships continued to run aground on New Dungeness Spit. From the time that records began being kept in the 1850s, over 20 ships have been wrecked there. Many of the vessels that merely ran aground with no significant damage, were refloated at high tide and never recorded. In April 1880, the New Dungeness fog bell and striking apparatus were moved to the Point No Point Light Station and put into service and the old fog signal building was razed. In 1884, the original lard-oil lamp was replaced with a Haines kerosene lamp. In 1894, the Lighthouse Service built a separate corrugated iron oil house to store the flammable kerosene and moved the boathouse and tramway west of the original site. With three station keepers assigned to New Dungeness Spit, housing was tight. In 1895, the Lighthouse Service requested funding for a new house for the head station keeper. By 1900, the Lighthouse Board reported that four keepers were now billeted at the New Dungeness Light Station and a new dwelling was urgently needed. Finally in April 1904, Congress appropriated funds for the project. In January 1905, a large Georgian Style, one-and-a-half story, three-bedroom house was finished at a cost of about $5,000. In 1906, the original lighthouse keeper's dwelling was remodeled and converted into a duplex with a new wing added. Also, a new wharf with a boathouse was constructed. In 1907, a new fog-signal building was constructed to house two 25-horsepower kerosene engines and air compressors for two six-inch fog sirens to replace the old steam whistle. In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson declared the New Dungeness Spit area to be a wild bird reservation with public access permitted. Today, the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, under the management and protection of the Department of Agriculture, Fish and Wildlife Service, provides a habitat for hundreds of species of birds as well as land and marine mammals. Portions of the refuge, to include Graveyard Spit, are closed to provide sanctuary for wildlife during critical feeding, resting, and nesting times. In 1922, the U.S. Navy built a Radio Compass Station near the light. This new aid-to- navigation broadcasted radio signals from Cattle Point, Smith Island, and New Dungeness to enable navigation through the worst weather using triangulation. The Navy built a radio tower, transmitting station, concrete power house, and living quarters for the sailors assigned to operate the radio compass. The Radio Compass Station was closed in 1936, and a Navy Radio Beacon was installed. In the 1920s, cracks in the 91-foot light tower’s masonry work began developing due to natural deterioration and the concussions from Canadian artillery guns conducting target practice at Esquimalt on Vancouver Island. As a result, the tower became unsafe and a major renovation was necessary. In 1927, under the supervision of Lighthouse Service engineer Clarence Sherman, the tower was reduced in height to 63 feet. This drastic change necessitated a new iron lantern and lens. The remodeled lighthouse was painted the traditional white with a red roof and sea- green trim. Some of the original bricks removed from the old tower can stil be found scattered around the grounds. In 1930, an artesian well 665 feet deep was drilled on the spit between the lighthouse and head keeper’s house, providing the light station with a constant supply of fresh water. In 1934, the Lighthouse Service constructed a cement transformer building and laid an armored marine cable across New Dungeness bay, bringing electricity to the light station. The incandescent oil vapor lamp illuminating the lantern was replaced with a 120-watt electric bulb. On July 7, 1939, Congress eliminated the Bureau of Lighthouses and the U.S. Lighthouse Service, transferring the responsibility for lighthouses and aids to navigation to the U.S. Coast Guard. The civilian lighthouse keepers were allowed to remain in their jobs until retirement. They were gradually replaced with Coast Guard personnel who were generally assigned to lighthouse duty for only one year until rotated to sea duty. During World War II (1941-1945) Radio Direction Finder equipment was installed on the spit to replace the radio beacon installed by the U.S. Navy in 1936. In addition to patrolling the beaches, the Coast Guard built and staffed a 35-foot watch tower northeast of the light station to watch for suspicious activity in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In November 1975, the U.S. Coast Guard automated the lighthouse and fog signal on New Dungeness Spit. After automation, staffing at the light station was reduced from three keepers to one keeper and his family living in the 1905 keeper's house. The brick lighthouse dwelling was vacated and has not been occupied since that time. The station keeper was relegated to maintaining the buildings and grounds, and to conducting tours. In 1980, Seaman Jeni Burr, assigned to the New Dungeness Light Station with her husband Eric, was one of only two Coast Guard women ever assigned as a lighthouse keeper. On November 11, 1993, the New Dungeness Light Station was officially designated as an historic place by the Washington State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and listed on the Washington Heritage Register. On this same date, the light station was added to the National Register of Historic Places, maintained by the National Park Service. In March 1994, the Coast Guard decided to close the New Dungeness Light Station, leaving Boston Lighthouse (established 1716) the last remaining Coast Guard staffed lighthouse in the country. Seaman Seth Jackson and his wife Michelle were the last government keepers at New Dungeness. The Coast Guard planned to board up the lighthouse, keepers' quarters and outbuildings to keep out vandals during the search for a permanent caretaker. Fortunately, the New Dungeness Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society had been organized and agreed to accept stewardship of the 32.5-acre reservation. The Coast Guard issued the U.S. Lighthouse Society a license beginning in September 1994, to staff and maintain the facility, but retained control of the light, foghorns, and other navigational aids. In the interim, the local Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteered to keep the light station open. On September 3, 1994, the U.S. Lighthouse Society began to staff the station year-round, 24 hours a day, with their lighthouse keepers program. The Chapter reincorporated in 2001 as the New Dungeness Light Station Association. Enthusiasts who join the New Dungeness Light Station Association can pay a fee and become lighthouse keepers for one week. The proceeds go toward the restoration and maintenance of the buildings. Up to seven volunteer keepers are taken to the light station at low tide in a four-wheel drive vehicle, along with personal effects and provisions for one week. The keepers are responsible for cleaning and maintaining the buildings, keeping the grounds in good condition, maintaining the logbooks, and conducting tours. Fire has always been one of the greatest dangers at any light station. At about 9:00 p.m., July 11, 1999, New Dungeness volunteer lighthouse keepers noticed smoke from a driftwood fire about a mile and a half down the beach and went up to the lantern room to gauge how fast the fire was spreading. The fire, fueled by scrub vegetation, driftwood and a westerly 30-knot wind, appeared to be rapidly approaching the light station. They immediately notified authorities and sensibly set about turning on all the lawn sprinklers between the barn and the metal helicopter pad to wet down the first place the fire would most likely reach. Within an hour of reporting it, the fire had progressed to within 100 yards of the light station. The Coast Guard responded from nearby Port Angeles with two helicopters to evacuate the eight volunteers, but had to land behind the station as the landing pad was surrounded by fire. The National Park Service sent 19 firefighters to the spit by boat who were able to contain the fire until it ran off the end of the spit. Remarkably, the volunteers who set the sprinklers saved the buildings by causing the fire to burn around the station’s 1-acre grounds. Although the buildings had smoke damage, none were lost. In 2005, all the systems at New Dungeness are monitored by computer at the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Port Angeles, but maintenance of the light, foghorn, and navigational equipment is the responsibility of the Coast Guard’s Aids to Navigation Branch located at Pier 36 in Seattle. Despite advances in navigation, including the Global Positioning Satellite System (GPSS), there is still a real need for the New Dungeness light and fog signal, especially for smaller, less sophisticated vessels. The New Dungeness Lighthouse remains essentially the same as when it was remodeled in 1927. The Georgian-Style head keeper's house, built in 1905, has been restored to its original condition. The lighthouse and buildings are all painted the traditional white with red roofs and sea-green trim. The light station, originally built about 800 feet from the spit’s end, now sits over one-half mile west of the tip. The peninsula continues to grow 15 to 30 feet each year as silt from the New Dungeness River and sand accumulate at the east end. Access to the New Dungeness Light Station is limited to hikers at low tide and boaters who can land on the beach. From the Dungeness Recreation Area parking lot, it’s a strenuous five and a half mile trek through the Dungeness Wildlife Refuge to reach the lighthouse, with only about 10 percent of the hikers making it there. Nevertheless, since 1994 the lighthouse has logged well over 35,000 visitors, who are always welcome. U.S. Navy Radio Compass Station, New Dungeness, WA 1922 1936 Navy Direction Finding Station, New Dungeness, WA 1941 1945 at U.S. Naval Radio Station, New Dungeness, WA ================================================================================== Newport Beach, California Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, 10 miles south of downtown Santa Ana. The current metropolitan designation for Newport Beach and the Orange County Area is Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA. As of 2007, the population was 84,218. The city is home to several well known communities and recent annexations, including Balboa Island (1916), Corona del Mar (1923), San Joaquin Hills (2002), Santa Ana Heights (2002), and Newport Coast (2002). The city is bordered to the west by Huntington Beach at the Santa Ana River, on the north side by Costa Mesa, John Wayne Airport, and Irvine and on the east side by Crystal Cove State Park. The Upper Newport Bay was carved out by the prehistoric flow of the Santa Ana River. It feeds the delta that is the Back Bay, and eventually joins Newport Harbor. In the mid 1700's, the Spanish aristocrat and military leader Gasper de Portola led an exposition to claim California frontier land for Spain. Portola enlisted the aid of Father Junipero Serra and numerous European soldiers to explore previously unmapped territory. Decades later in the 1800's, land holdings of the Capistrano Mission were parceled out as Spanish and Mexican land grants to war heroes and aristocratic families. Later, many Spanish and Mexican landowners were forced to sell large tracts of their land. The most prominent landowners of the area, whose combined holdings comprised Newport Beach's upper bay and lower bay, sold their tracts to American entrepreneurs. Santa Ana, Tustin and Orange became new farming communities for the settlers, who arrived by steamer and covered wagon. Not long after, hide and tallow businesses emerged. The first stirring of commerce began in 1870, when a small stern wheeler from San Diego named "The Vaquero" made its first trip to a marshy lagoon, to exchange lumber for hides, tallow and livestock. Ranch owners in the Lower Bay decided that the area would be called Newport. In 1888, the settlement was changed by building a wharf that extended from the shallow bay of the peninsula to deeper water where large steamers could dock. Shipping activity increased dramatically, and in two years, Newport was known as a vibrant Southern California shipping town. In 1905, city development increased when Pacific Electric Railroad established a southern terminus in Newport, connecting the beach with downtown Los Angeles. In 1906, with a population of 206 citizens, the scattered settlements were incorporated as the City of Newport Beach. Settlements filled in on the Peninsula, West Newport, Balboa Island and Lido Isle. Between 1934 and 1936, the federal government and Orange County undertook work around the harbor. They dredged the Lower Bay, extended jetties, and created the present day contour of Newport Beach. In 1936, community members dedicated the city's main harbor, named Newport Harbor. During World War II, the harbor became a vital hub, as Naval ships were built and repaired in Newport Beach coastal waters. At the end of the war, many service men and women decided to stay, triggering a real estate boom in Newport Beach. Navy Direction Finding Site, Newport Beach, CA at U.S. Naval Radio Station, Newport Beach, CA ================================================================================== North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California North Hollywood is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. North Hollywood, like most of the rest of the San Fernando Valley, was once part of the vast landholdings of the Franciscan Mission San Fernando Rey de España, which were confiscated by the government during the Mexican period of rule. The Treaty of Cahuenga, which ended the U.S.-Mexican fighting in California was signed at Tomás Feliz's adobe house at Campo de Cahuenga, on Lankershim Boulevard, in January, 1847. In the late 1800s, the Southern Pacific Railroad opened a branch line from downtown Los Angeles to the Valley. In 1895, the Chatsworth Limited made one stop a day in Toluca, although that name was in conflict with a sign on the new station which read Lankershim. With the Post Office across the street called Toluca, controversy over the town’s name continued and the local ranchers used to quip, "Ship the merchandise to Lankershim, but bill it to Toluca." The area formerly known as Lankershim was subsequently renamed North Hollywood, in an effort to capitalize on the glamour and proximity of Hollywood proper. Naval Monitoring Station, North Hollywood, CA ================================================================================== North Island, Georgetown, South Carolina North Island is an island off the mainland, southeast of Georgetown and directly south of Debidue Island, which contains a 7-mile strand of beach in front of dunes, that reach heights of about 25 feet. The entrance to Winyan Bay is flanked by North Island, South Island and Cat Island. The inland port of Georgetown was named in honor of England’s King George I, and was designated an official port in 1732. By the time the Revolution took place, Georgetown was an important center of commerce. At one time, it was the site of the second largest rice culture the world has known. Georgetown is the third oldest city in South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Great Pee Dee River, Waccamaw River, and Sampit River, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina, handling over 960,000 tons of materials a year. As of the census of 2000, Georgetown had a population of 8,950. Georgetown, South Carolina occupies a unique place in American history. In fact, some historians claim that American history began here in 1526, with the earliest settlement in North America by Europeans with African slaves. It is believed that in that year the Spanish, under Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón, founded a colony on Waccamaw Neck called San Miguel de Guadalupe. For multiple reasons, the colony failed, including a likely fever epidemic and a revolt of African slaves, who went to live with the Cofitachiqui Indians in the area. Having failed as farmers, the surviving Spanish sailed to the Spice Islands of the Caribbean on a ship built from local cypress and oak trees. After settling Charles Town in 1670, the English established trade with the Indians and the trading posts in the outlying areas quickly became settlements. By 1721, the petition for a new parish, Prince George, Winyah, on Black River was granted. In 1734, Prince George, Winyah was divided and the newly created Prince Frederick Parish came to occupy the church at Black River. Prince George Parish, Winyah then encompassed the new town of Georgetown on the Sampit River. In 1729, Elisha Screven laid the plan for Georgetown and developed the city in a four-by-eight block grid. Referred to as the "Historic District", the original grid city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and still bears the original street names, lot numbers, and many of the original homes. The Indian trade declined soon after Georgetown was established and indigo became the cash crop with rice as a secondary crop. Agricultural profits were so great between 1735-1775, that in 1757, the Winyah Indigo Society, whose members paid dues in indigo, opened and maintained the first public school between Charles Town and Wilmington. When the American Revolution erupted, Georgetown played a large part by sending both Thomas Lynch, Sr. and Thomas Lynch, Jr. to sign the Declaration of Independence. Later in the war, Marquis de Lafayette arrived in Georgetown from France to help the Colonists in the war against England. During the final years of the conflict, Georgetown was an important port for supplying General Nathanael Greene's army. Francis Marion (the Swamp Fox) led many guerrilla actions in this vicinity. Following the American Revolution, rice became the staple crop. It required the low land along the rivers for cultivation and thus the rice plantations were established around Georgetown on its six rivers. By 1840, the Georgetown District (later County) produced nearly one-half of the total rice crop of the U.S. This wealth produced an aristocratic way of living featuring lovely homes, elegant furniture, gracious hospitality and a leisurely lifestyle for a selected few that lasted until 1860. Many of these plantations are still standing today. Georgetown and Georgetown County suffered terribly during Reconstruction (1865-1876). The rice crops of 1866-88 were failures due to disrupted labor patterns, lack of capital and inclement weather. Rice continued to be grown commercially until about 1910, but never on the scale or with the profits attained before 1860. After the reconstruction period ended, Georgetown turned to wood products for its economic survival, and by 1900, there were several lumber mills in operation on the Sampit River. The largest was the Atlantic Coast Lumber Company, which provided a much needed boost to the local economy. Like most cities, Georgetown suffered great economic deprivation during the Great Depression. The Atlantic Coast Lumber Company went bankrupt early in the depression, putting almost everyone out of work. In 1936, help arrived. In that year the Southern Kraft Division of the International Paper Company opened a mill, which by 1944 was the largest in the world. In recent years, the economy has become more diversified. A steel mill has located here, tourism has become a booming business and many retirees have chosen to settle here. The Georgetown Lighthouse (North Island Light) is located on North Island at the on the northern side of the entrance to Winyan Bay, twrlve miles off the coast from the city of Georgetown, in South Carolina. It was established in 1801, and first lit in 1801. The Georgetown Lighthouse is one of the oldest in the Southeast U.S., and is the oldest active lighthouse in South Carolina. See the excellent overhead view at the following link: . On December 12, 1795, seven acres of land was acquired on North Island for a lighthouse for the harbor of Georgetown. The first tower was a 72 foot, cyorus wood pyramidal tower. Also constructed was a two-story keeper’s dwelling along with an oil storage tank. The wooden tower was destroyed by gale force winds, during a storm in 1806. Construction of a new brick conical tower of the same heighth commenced in 1811, and was completed 1812. In 1855, a fourth order Fresnel lens was installed. The lighthouse tower sustained severe damage during the Civil War, when it was used by Confederate forces as an observation tower. It was captured by Union forces in May, 1862. As part of the post-war repairs, the structure was raised to 87 feet. Painted white tower with a black lantern room, the rebuilt lighthouse was first lit in 1867. Automated in 1986, keepers were no longer required. The light station was leased to the state of South Ccaroplina in 1988, as part of a juvenile detention and rehabilitation center, but plans for this center were abandoned in 1990. Replaced by a solar powered modern optic in 1999, the fourth order Fresnel lens was removed and is on display at the Coast Guard station in Georgetown. The original oil house (1890) and boathouse (1894) remain standing. The lighthouse is an operational U.S. Coast Guard Active Aid to Navigation, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In early 2001, The Georgetown Lighthouse station was transferred to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, which already owned the rest of the island as the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Preserve. The lighthouse property is now part of a State Preserve managed by the South Carolina Heritage Trust, although the light continues to be maintained by the Coast Guard. Navy Direction Finding Station, North Island, SC at U.S. Naval Radio Station, North Island, SC ================================================================================== North Truro, Massachusetts Truro is a town in Barnstable County. Located two hours outside Boston, it is a summer vacation community just shy of the tip of Cape Cod. Truro is located just south and east of the "tip" of Cape Cod, and is bordered by Provincetown to the northwest, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east, Wellfleet to the south, and Cape Cod Bay to the west. The town is thirty-eight miles by road to Barnstable, fifty miles from the Sagamore Bridge and 105 miles by road from Boston. It is named after Truro in Cornwall, England. Its name among the natives of Cape Cod was Pamet or Payomet, a name that still refers to an area around the town center known as the Pamet Roads. The population was 2,087 at the 2000 census. Truro is comprised of two villages, Truro and North Truro. Barnstable County is a county located in Massachusetts, consisting of Cape Cod and associated islands. As of 2000, the population was 222,230. Its county seat is the city of Barnstable. The Pilgrims stopped in Truro and Provincetown in 1620, as their original choice for a landing before later declaring the area unsuitable. While there, they discovered fresh water and corn stored by the Native Americans. The accuracy of the latter discovery, on what is now known as Corn Hill, remains disputed. Truro was settled by Europeans in 1700, as the northernmost portion of the town of Eastham. The town was officially separated and incorporated in 1709. Fishing, whaling and shipbuilding made up the town's early industry; these industries died off, however, as the harsh tides of the Lower Cape began decimating the town's main port in the 1850s. Today, Truro is one of the more exclusive towns on the Cape, noted for its affluent residences and the rolling hills and dunes along the coast. The topography generally slopes downward from the Atlantic to Cape Cod Bay sides, and from south to north. There are several small ponds throughout town, all of which combined are smaller than the Pilgrim Lake, just east of the Provincetown town line, and just south of the sand dunes which make up most of the northern tip of the Cape. Pamet Harbor, a small inlet, is in the southern half of the town on the Cape Cod Bay side, and leads to the Pamet River. Cape Cod (or simply the Cape) is an arm-shaped peninsula nearly coextensive with Barnstable County, and forming the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts. The Cape's small town character and beachfront brings heavy tourism during the summer months. Although the Cape was originally connected to the mainland, the Cape Cod Canal, which opened in 1914, effectively transformed Cape Cod into a large island (though it is not normally referred to as such). The Cape Cod Highland Lighthouse is situated on the Cape Cod National Seashore near the town of Truro, Massachusetts. It is a working lighthouse situated on the Highland Golf Course. The lighthouse is located on the east side of Cape Cod. It is the earliest lighthouse built on Cape Cod, to warn shipping about the dangerous coastline between Cape Ann and Nantucket. On May 17, 1796, a bill was passed which authorized a lighthouse on the Highlands or Clay Pound (Ponds) of North Truro. The high cliffs meant a low, inexpensive structure that could support a lantern. In August, 1796, a deed was signed stating the government had acquired 10 acres of land from Isaac Small for $110.00, $100.00 for the land and $10 for the right of way. The first structure was erected in 1797, and Isaac Small became the first keeper. In September, 1797, an octagon wooden tower was built. It stood 45 feet high on a stone foundation. The latern was 6 feet in diameter and 8 feet high. The keeper's dwelling was one story at 25x27 feet. This included a separate oil vault covered by a shed, a well and small barn. The keepers building and the generator shed can still be seen today. The total coast was $7,257.56. The light was not illuminated until January 15, 1798, making it the 20th lighthouse in the country. Serious structure problems within the tower led to plans for modifying the light in 1812. A new contract was signed in 1831, for the second rebuilding of the tower. The tower was to be a brick, 35 feet high, 22 feet at the base. The keeper's house had little change, but was to be constructed from brick, and a new lens was to be installed. Construction on the new keeper's house began in 1856. The 66 foot tower, assistant keeper's dwelling and connectors were completed in October 1857, at the cost of $17,000.00. The lighthouse was painted white, with a black lantern. The new first order Fresnel lens was illuminated on October 14, 1857. A Naval Radio Station for intelligence monitoring was established at the Cape Cod Highland Light in 1904. The Navy Direction Finding Station at North Truro assumed great importance during World War I and was guarded by a detachment of U.S. Marines. Photo at . The site was used as a U.S. Coast Guard radio traffic facility from 1939 to 1943. An even larger Fresnel lens, floating on a bed of mercury, was installed in 1901. A temporary light was used, while the new first order lens was installed. The light was electrified using a 1000-watt electric lamp in 1932. The light became the coast's most powerful, the 4,000,000 candlepower light could be seen for 45 miles, and reportedly as far as 75 miles in clear weather. In 1946, The giant first order Fresnel lens was removed, and replaced by a pair of modern aerobeacons. When the Fresnel lens was removed, it was destroyed. A fragment is on display at the Highland Museum & Lighthouse. By the 1960's many of the original structures had been taken down, including the assistant keeper's dwellings and the fog horn. In 1961, the Coast Guard destroyed the assistant keeper's house and replaced it with a new duplex. Highland Light was automated in 1986, and the 1946 aerobeacons were replaced, with a Crouse-Hinds DCB-224 rotating beacon, during automation. The station's radio beacon remained in service and the keeper's dwelling continued to be used as Coast Guard housing. Despite government inspections, erosion of the cliff edge was a seious problem. Isaac Small's original 10 acres were now barely two acres. When built, the light- house tower's original perch was 510 feet from the edge of the shore cliffs. By the early 1990's, due to erosion, the lighthouse stood only 128 feet from the edge of the cliff In July, 1996, the entire 430 ton lighthouse tower was moved 453 feet inland intact, using I-beams, and hydraulic jacks. On November 3, 1996, the Highland Light was relit in its new location. In 1998, the aerobeacons were in turn replaced by a 110-watt beacon. In the summer of 1998, Highland Light was opened for visitors, with volunteers giving tours. The lighthouse is now owned by the National Park Service, as part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, and run by Highland Museum & Lighthouse Inc, a non- profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the Cape's first lighthouse. In April, 2001, the lighthouse got a needed facelift, receiving a new interior and exterior paint job, and a new ventilation system was installed in the lantern room. The Cape Cod Highland Lighthouse remains operational, and is a U.S. Coast Guard Active Aid to Navigation, with a Fog Signal. The Coast Guard's role in communications developed during the Prohibition era when a need was established for communications to deal with smugglers. Initially, the Coast Guard used commercial and Naval stations. The first Coast Guard Radio Station in New England went on the air from Nahant, Massachusetts on October 6, 1926. In 1930, the Coast Guard was granted permission to erect a radio station to replace Nahant at Fort Heath, Winthrop, MA, which the Coast Guard opened in November, 1931. The station at Winthrop was closed experimentally from September 1, 1934 until September 17, 1936 and an attempt was made to pass all Coast Guard messages through Navy facilities. The experiment clearly indicated a need for the Coast Guard to provide it's own radio facilities. The Winthrop station was reestablished and remained on the air until 1939 when it was moved to North Truro, MA, and colocated wth the The Cape Cod Highland Lighthouse. In April, 1943, the facility was moved by the Coast Guard to Marshfield, MA. Situated on sixty-five acres on what was once known as the Hunt Estate, The property was purchased by the Coast Guard in 1942. The 1911 home, located on South River Street, was converted to office, barracks and messing facilities and the Coast Guard built an operations building, vehicle garage, several small detached transmitter buildings and a complex antenna array system. In 1975, a new Operations building to house the Receiver Site was built on the Marshfield grounds, and all of the transmitters were moved to a 542 acre former Air Force site on Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod. This major upgrading program was completed and the new U.S. Coast Guard Communications Station Boston was dedicated on 2une 2, 1975. Communications Station Boston was decommissioned in early 1998, and passed into the care of the Town of Marshfield. The Otis ANG Base transmitter site was retained and is run remotely from the USCG Area Master (CAMS) located at Chesapeake, VA. A U.S. Air Force Ground Control Interception (GCI) radar station was located at North Truro Air Force Station on Cape Cod, from the 1950's to 1984, when the property was declared excess by the Air Force. The network depended on each radar site to perform GCI functions or pass information to a nearby GCI center. For example, information gathered by North Truro Air Force Station on Cape Cod was transmitted via three dedicated land lines to the GCI center at Otis AFB, Massachusetts, and then on to the Air Defense Commmand Headquarters at Ent AFB, Colorado. The facility at Otis AFB was a regional information clearinghouse that integrated the data from North Truro and other regional radar stations, Navy picket ships, and the volunteer Ground Observer Corps. The clearinghouse operation was labor intensive. The data had to be manually copied onto Plexiglas plotting boards. The ground controllers used this data to direct defensive fighters to their targets. It was a slow and cumbersome process, fraught with difficulties. Engagement information was passed on to command headquarters by telephone and teletype. In 1968, North Truro became the first radar station to be designated a Backup Interceptor Control installation. The unit assigned to the North Truro Air Force Station was the 762nd AC&W Squadron (later the 762nd Radar Squadron). Navy Direction Finding Station, North Truro, MA 1904 Navy Direction Finding Station, North Truro, MA 1939 Apr 1943 at U.S. Naval Radio Station, North Truro, MA 1904 ================================================================================== Noumea, New Caledonia New Caledonia (locally Kanaky) is an overseas territory of France, made up of a main island (Grande Terre), the Loyalty Islands, and several smaller islands. It is located in the region of Melanesia in the southwest Pacific, approximately 746 miles east of Australia and 932 miles northwest of New Zealand. The island nation of Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides) lies to the northeast. New Caledonia is made up of a main island, the Grande Terre, and several smaller islands, the Belep archipelago to the north of the Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands to the east of the Grande Terre, the Île des Pins to the south of the Grande Terre, the Chesterfield Islands and Bellona Reefs further to the west. At about half the size of Taiwan, New Caledonia has a land area of 7,172 square miles. The population was 240,400 inhabitants as of January, 2007 official estimates. The Grande Terre is by far the largest of the islands, and the only mountainous island. It has an area of 6,321 square miles, and is elongated northwest-southeast, 217 miles in length and 31-44 miles wide. A mountain range runs the length of the island, with five peaks over 4,900 feet. The capital and largest city of the territory is Nouméa, the seat of the regional organization the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (formerly the South Pacific Commission). Nouméa is the chief port, and principal administrative and economic center of New Caledonia; and the only city on Grande Terre, the main island of New Caledonia. The city lies on a peninsula at the island’s southernwestern tip, sandwiched between low hills and a protected deepwater harbor. Founded in 1854, Nouméa remains dominated by French language and culture. The local economy is based on nickel smelting and tourism. Nouméa is often referred to as the "Paris of the Pacific" because it possesses a cosmopolitan atmosphere, fine French restaurants, and chic boutiques. The name Caledonia derives from the Latin name of an area corresponding to modern Scotland. The name Kanaky is also in common usage in French, English and the indigenous languages. This name is favored by Melanesian nationalists. The word comes from kanaka, a Hawai`ian word (elsewhere tangata and variants) meaning "human/person/people", used by Polynesians to refer to themselves. The word was later used by the French to describe all the indigenous inhabitants of the South Pacific Ocean, including the Melanesian (non-Polynesian) native inhabitants of New Caledonia. The word, turned into Canaque in French, became derogatory. In the 1960s and 1970s, when the Melanesian native inhabitants started to organize themselves into political parties and call for independence, the word was transformed into a symbol of political emancipation and pride. In 1983, during the period of political turmoil, the terms Kanak and Kanaky became political brand names and colonial whites (Caldoches) realized the name had changed into a political statement. The western Pacific was first populated about 50,000 years ago. The Austronesians moved into the area later. The diverse group of people that settled over the Melanesian archipelagos are known as the Lapita. They arrived in the archipelago now commonly known as New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands around 1500 BC. The Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific. >From about the 11th century Polynesians also arrived and mixed with the populations of the archipelago. Europeans first sighted New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands in the late 18th century. The British explorer James Cook sighted Grande Terre in 1774 and named it New Caledonia, (Latin for Scotland). During the same voyage, he also named the islands to the north of New Caledonia the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), after the islands north of Scotland. British whalers from Australia created an oil extraction station at New Caledonia but weren't welcome. Sandalwood traders were more welcome but as supplies diminished, the traders became abusive. The Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox, measles, dysentery, influenza, syphilis and leprosy. Many people died as a result of these diseases. Tensions developed into hostilities and in 1849 the crew of the Cutter were killed and eaten by the Pouma clan. As trade in sandalwood declined it was replaced by a new form of trade, Blackbirding. Blackbirding was a euphemism for enslaving people from New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands to work in sugar cane plantations in Fiji and Queensland. The trade ceased at the start of the 20th century. The victims of this trade were called Kanakas, a label later shortened to Kanak and adopted by the indigenous population after French annexation. Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries first arrived in the nineteenth century. They had a profound effect on indigenous culture. They insisted people should wear clothes to cover themselves. They eradicated many local practices and traditions, including cannibalism. The island was made a French possession in late 1853, in an attempt by Napoleon III to rival the British colonies in Australia and New Zealand. Following the example set by the British in nearby Australia, between 1864 and 1922, France sent a total of 22,000 convicted felons to penal colonies along the south-west coast of the island. Towards the end of the penal colony era, free European settlers (including former convicts) and Asian contract workers by far out-numbered the population of forced workers. The indigenous Kanak populations declined drastically in that same period, due to introduced diseases and an apartheid-like system, which imposed severe restrictions on their livelihood, freedom of movement and land ownership. During World War II, U.S. and Allied forces built a major position in New Caledonia to combat the advance of Japan in South-East Asia and toward Australia. On March 12, 1942, U.S. Naval Forces arrived and established advance bases at Noumea, in New Caledonia; and Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides. These early bases were critical in order to contain the Japanese in the Central Pacific and protect the lifeline to Australia. In October, 1942, then Vice Admiral Halsey assumed command of the South Pacific area and moved his headquarters ashore to Noumea, New Caledonia; and directed the development of a full blown logistics support base there, eliminating the need for the extended line of communication to Auckland, New Zealand. Fleet Air Command, Noumea, New Caledonia was established on December 14, 1942, at the Pointe Chaleix French Naval Base. Noumea served as the headquarters for the U.S. military in the Pacific. The base at Espiritu Santo was fully operational in February, 1943. The proximity of the territory with the South Pacific operations, permitted quick repairs in Noumea of damaged U.S. ships, and provided a strategic air base as well as personnel and logistics support for the war. Over the course of World War II, over 40,000 U.S. troops were stationed on the small Pacific island nation. In July, 1943, a U.S. Navy Radio Intercept Station was established at Noumea, New Caledonia; when radio intercept and other operations personnel were evacuated from the U.S. Navy Direction Finding Station at Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands. The DF Station on Guadalcanal remained open until December 4, 1944. The Navy Radio Intercept Station at Noumea was closed at the conclusion of World War II, in December, 1945. The U.S. military headquarters was, after the war, taken over as the base for a new regional intergovernmental development organization. Along with other Pacific Ocean territories of French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia is part of the French Republic. Its official status, unique in the French Republic, because New Caledonia is the only French subdivision that is not a collectivité territoriale. New Caledonia was a colony until 1946, then a French overseas territory from 1946 to 1999. Administratively, the archipelago is divided into three provinces; the South Province (Provincial capital: Nouméa); the North Province (Provincial capital: Koné) and the Loyalty Islands Province (Provincial capital: Lifou). Navy Direction Finding Station, Guadalcanal, 15 Sep 1942 04 Dec 1944 Solomon Islands Radio Intercept and other operations 05 Nov 1942 Jul 1943 Evacuated to Noumea, New Caledonia Navy Radio Intercept Station, Noumea, New Caledonia Jul 1943 Dec 1945 Evacuated here from Guadalcanal =================================================================================== Otter Point, Ft. Glenn, Cape Airfield, Umnak Island, Alaska Umnak is part of the "Fox" islands, southwest of mainland Alaska in the Aleutian chain, and is located sixty-five miles west of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. It is the third largest of the Aleutian islands, and the 19th largest island in the U.S. having a land mass of around 675 square miles. The island is home to a large volcanic caldera on Mount Okmok and is separated from Unalaska Island by Umnak Pass. As of the 2000 census, the island had a population of 39 persons. Its only remaining community, Nikolski, comprised the island's entire population. Fort Glenn, a former major military facility on the Northwest shore of the island, played an instrumental role in the North Pacific Theater in World War II. In late November, 1941, the construction of an Army airfield on Umnak Island was approved by the War Department to provide local air protection for the Naval Base at Dutch Harbor, and also for the broader purposes of blocking a Japanese advance toward the mainland and permitting the projection of Army air power into the more distant Aleutians. The 807th Army Engineers began the construction of a runway at Otter Point on the northeastern end of Umnak, in mid-January, 1942; and undertook similar work in March, 1942 on an intermediate base at Cold Bay, near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, where construction of an airfield had been started in 1941 by the Civil Aeronautics Administration. In 1942, Umnak supported about 50 Aleut residents, about 15,000 sheep, and a heard of imported reindeer. Umnak has no natural harbor, supports no trees, and is very mountainous. There were serious doubts that a runway could in fact be constructed here. The runway problem was solved by importing to Umnak, 3,000,000 square feet of Marsden Matting, perforated-steel plating (PSP), that could be assembled with other steel plates to create a flat surface upon which aircraft could take off and land. On March 31, 1942, the 807th had completed the 3,000 by 100 foot runway on Umnak for use by twelve P-40 Warhawk fighter aircraft, some B-26 Marauders, and a few B-17 Flying Fortresses. The Umnak base became the Army's Fort Glenn, and the Cold Bay base became Fort Randall, with the Army garrison for Dutch Harbor, Fort Mears, in between. Both of the new fields were usable by April 1, 1942, although just barely so. When the enemy approached two months later, Umnak had a garrison of about 4,000, Fort Mears of over 6,000, and Cold Bay of about 2,500, including engineer troops, but also including balanced complements of infantry and of field and antiaircraft artillery units. The forward base on Umnak had 2,300 combat troops, that the War Department had authorized. The U.S. Navy Advanced Base, Otter Point, Umnak Island and the U.S. Naval Air Facility (NAF), Otter Point was established on October 22, 1942. The U.S. Naval Supplementary Radio Station, Otter Point; with a co-located Navy Direction Finding Station, was also established in October, 1942. Officers at Otter Point enjoyed comfortable living conditions in a Yakutat style house. The enlisted personnel had three Yakutat houses and used a community head and shower room. Oil heaters were used to supply warmth for these quarters. A combined Ship's Service, soft drink fountain, barber shop and station gymnasium occupied one building called "Madison Square Garden" and it proved adequate for all purposes of recreation. There was a small officers' club and mess where the officers had their meals. The enlisted men were members of "The Enlisted Mens' Club" the only such club in the Aleutian Chain, and took great pride in this club, which was managed by the enlisted personnel of Otter Point Naval Air Facility. U.S. forces at Fort Mears met the first Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor on June 3, 1942, with antiaircraft and small arms fire. On June 4,1942, the Aleutian Tigers (eight P-40s), engaged the Japanese planes in aerial dogfights. The U.S. planes were launched from Cape Field at Fort Glenn, a secret airbase on neighboring Umnak Island. The Japanese had thought the nearest airfield was on Kodiak, and Cape Field, disguised as a cannery complex, had remained undetected. The surprise aerial counter-attack dest